Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has claimed that Rangers chairman Dave King must quit Ibrox if he is not going to “step up his game”.

King, 62, has been Light Blues chairman since 2015 and has overseen the Glasgow club’s return to the Scottish Premiership as well as several changes in management, with another one due in the summer if Graeme Murty does not earn the job on a long-term basis.

Former Celtic striker Nicholas believes that the South African tycoon’s failed £11million offer for the remaining shares at Rangers has left him in a bit of a predicament, meaning that all other directors at the Govan club are waiting around for guidance from their chief.

“Dave King has to step up his game or move aside if he wants Rangers to become a major force again,” said Nicholas on the Express website.

He added: “King has made it clear he doesn’t want to get into a position where one man controls the club again, but there needs to be some direction from above.

“The Park family and some of the other directors have all put in major money, but they have all gone quiet.

“It looks like they are waiting to see what King is going to do.

“He is in a bit of a situation after losing an appeal against a court order to make an £11million offer for the remaining Ibrox shares.

“King claims the shares are not in his name but those of his family, and insists it is their holding firm who will have to settle the issue.”

Football Insider verdict

King really does have to step up his leadership as there are going to be a lot of big decisions to be made at Rangers over the next few months with the main one being who will be manager. Murty has done enough to earn the job for another season according to some, although others see defeats to Celtic and Kilmarnock as a big reason as to why the ex-Under-20s boss should be allowed to move on for a bigger name to come in. Pedro Caixinha’s appointment and the botched chase of Derek McInnes showed that King can make wrong decisions or stall on a decision for so long that it becomes useless. Rangers are showing improvement but if the South African is not careful they will start to fall back.

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